iPads used like fridge magnets to build big trucks

Working on something big, unwieldy and metal has one advantage, you can stick stuff to it.

Caterpillar workers at the line assembly in Decatur were given iPads with magnetic backs that they could stick onto the vehicles they were working on rather instead of clambering up and down the big trucks to check assembly instructions.

"It's all about giving people the tools and data to be effective," says Caterpillar Vice President Randy Krotowski, Global Information Services who talks about the origin of the idea.

"The team was looking at the line assembly at the Decatur facility, which is where it started, and looking at how the workers did their work."

"And what they noticed that in Decatur we build big trucks our 797s. So we have people up on high platforms walking up and down the stairs to check the assembly instructions for the 797 that they are building.